Ireland's largest book printer, with a sales office in Blackburn, will use the fully refurbished long perfector to run alongside two existing KBAs – a four-colour 162a and a 74.

Sales director Gerry Kelly said although there are about 800 educational and academic publishers in the UK, ColourBooks is not "only interested in the guys at the top".

He added: "It is our intention to bring the very best service offering to the smaller and mid-range houses; the new KBA will allow us to provide lead times of 10 days as opposed to six to eight weeks for standard paper stocks."

The printer's eight-colour press has arrived specified with DensiTronic S colour control system, as well as a LogoTronic interface. The Rapida 162a can handle sheet sizes up to 1620x1200mm and features fully automatic plate loading.

By offering perfecting on the press, Kelly anticipates the printer will increase its competitiveness in production.

He said: "Work will be completed much faster and that will make us more competitive – especially alongside printers from Spain, Italy and the UK.

"These types of books are high value so we are offering publishers the opportunity to print 2,000 books of say an 8,000 run," he added.

"Depending on how well they sell, they can order the remaining 6,000 or perhaps half of that."

Review: KBA Rapida 162